The Shaykh’s Return to Syria
Thereafter he set out for al-Sham in the company of the Egyptian army, intending to join the combatants (1). When they reached ʿAsqalan he diverged (2) toward Jerusalem, and from there he proceeded to Damascus, taking a route that passed through ʿAjlūn, parts of the Sawād, and Zurʿa.
He arrived in Damascus (3) on the first day of Dhu al-Qaʿdah in the year 712 AH (4), accompanied by his two brothers and a group of his companions. A great crowd came out to welcome him, overjoyed at his arrival, safety, and well-being.
His absence from Damascus had totaled seven years and seven Fridays.
During the Shaykh’s absence a number of his senior disciples and leading figures passed away. Among them was the exemplary imam, ascetic, devoted worshipper (5), and gnostic, ʿImād al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Wāsiṭī, known as the son of Shaykh al-Ḥazzāmīn (6). He died on Saturday, the twenty-sixth of Rabiʿ al-Ākhir in